Traveling with young children can be fun if you plan ahead.  The first thing you want to do is to book a suite with a full kitchen.  This will not only save you money on eating out but will keep you sane.  When your kids (or you) are tired you can go back to your condo and get a snack or rest so that you can make it through the rest of the day.  Remember that you are on vacation to enjoy yourself, not to run yourself and everyone else ragged.  The next thing you should do is to only plan one or two major activities each day.  You can have a list of other small fun things to do in case your crew is up for more. 

When we went to Galveston with young children, we would go straight from bed and breakfast in our own kitchen to the beach.  That would save on having to change clothes and cleaning up so many times.  We would take water and snacks and spend a couple of hours at the beach before lunch.  After lunch, either in our own kitchen or at a restaurant (there are plenty of kid-friendly restaurants to choose from), we would do another activity.

One enjoyable activity for kids of all ages (including the grown-up kind!) is miniature golf.  A couple of rounds of this is relatively inexpensive and will have everyone laughing and enjoying themselves.  Don't forget to bring some snacks and drinks to have during the game.  After all, that hard work makes you thirsty and hungry.  Other activities include looking through the tourist shops for shells or other treasures, and going to Moody Gardens. 

Moody Gardens could be seen in a whole day or several days. There are so many things to do there.  The Rain Forest is beautiful with its tropical plants and colorful birds.  The Aquarium is another child friendly activity.  We also rode on the paddle wheel boat at Moody Gardens which is more fun for an older child than a very young child.  The Discovery Museum and IMAX Theater are also good choices, depending on the ages of your children. 

By this time everyone is getting cranky, so it's time to head back to your hotel.  Let everyone rest or watch TV.  Our kids loved vacation because they could watch cable or satellite which we did not have at home.  After eating from our kitchen (if we ate lunch in our suite, we would go out to eat), we would either go back to the beach to walk and look for shells or go to the pool.  It doesn't matter whether you are at the beach or not, kids want to swim in the swimming pool. 

The main thing to remember is to relax and have fun.  Don't worry if you don't get to do "everything".  Being together and enjoying each other will be reward enough.  Anyway, there's always next year!

This family survival guide was brought to you by Julie Diaz

The Galveston Island beach is a great tot-spot.  You can bury them in the sand build sand castles, feed them to the seagulls look for shells, and set them out to sea swim with the dolphins!  And then you can relax in your holiday home and start another day!